The first Christmas Seals went on sale December 7, 1907 at the Wilmington, Delaware post office. Emily Bissell, pictured below, was and active member of The American Red Cross and had considerable experience with fund raising. She was asked by her cousin, Dr. Joseph Wales to help keep a sanitarium in operation through the winter.

Emily got the idea for the stamps from Denmark where a group had raised money to help people with Tuberculosis. She talked the local post office into selling the stamps in the lobby for 1-cent. Bissell spent the remaining years of her live promoting Christmas Stamps and helping eliminate TB. She died in 1948.